Comptroller launches school construction cost database

Texas Comptroller for Public Accounts Susan Combs this week launched a searchable database tracking public school construction costs for the last five years, just ahead of the May 10 elections that will see voters approve or deny billions in new bond debt.

“Texas’ rapid growth has brought tens of thousands of new school-aged children to our state, leading to huge expenses for school construction — more than $14 billion in the past seven years,” Combs said in a press release Tuesday. “There is no legislative standard for these costs and no required reporting mechanism, so we are shining a light on this spending so you can hold your local officials accountable for it.”

In the last months of her tenure as public accounts administrator, Combs has lashed out against the level of public indebtedness in the Lone Star state, issuing multiple reports on school district debt, local taxes and inflation and public pension funding that are highly critical of some local and state policies. The database launched this week tracks public school construction costs at 877 new campuses opened between 2007 and 2013, and makes them searchable by total cost, cost per square foot and cost per student.

The data comes with caveats: costs were adjusted for inflation to 2013 dollars and to reflect regional labor and material costs differences. Campus data, received through an open records request by the Comptroller’s office, was not individually verified by Combs’ office.

Next Saturday, voters will choose whether to approve billions in new bond proposals, the vast majority of which would go to school districts for campus upgrades and expansions. Harris County’s Cyprus-Fairbanks Independent School District’s $1.2 billion bond proposal is the largest on the May 10 ballot.